A solidarity sale to support the queer space ZBOKU in Kyiv
December 2023 – January 2024
ZBOKU artwork tote bags
A solidarity sale to support queer artivists in Ukraine
Join us and get a bag for yourself or as a present for a loved one!
At the Queer Museum Vienna, Baumgartnerhöhe 1, Otto Wagner Areal in der ehem. Klinik Penzing im Pavillon C (ehem. Direktion), 1140 Vienna
Come get your own art bag and support the organisation. Get one for yourself or as a holiday gift for friends! Each bag is unique and only a limited number are available.
About the organisation the money is directed towards
ZBOKU is a grassroots art and activist initiative dedicated to feminist and queer art, gender, and sexual resistance in culture. The main focus of its research is Ukrainian society but also tracing connections with similar initiatives around the world. ZBOKU supports queer and trans* communities, researches and publishes creative works and interviews, and aims to “restore” and preserve the non-mainstream history of activism in Ukraine through its archive and library.
Most of the team remains in Kyiv and raises funds for maintaining the space where the library and archive are, and where the art workshops, film screenings, discussions and parties take place.
The term ZBOKU in Ukrainian refers to both the word «pervert» and «aside». It allows the collective to play with language and meanings, create nouns, verbs, adjectives, and new ways of existence/being against and aside from norms.
https://www.facebook.com/zbokuart
https://zbokuart.wordpress.com/
About the artwork and the artist
The bags sold for charity are made out of the artwork Stray Dog by artist Vishnia Vishnia, a.k.a. Double Cherry which was exhibited in Close[t] Demonstrations: an exhibition on the multitudes of queer in_visibilities at Semmelweisklinik in November 2023. The artwork, which welcomed visitors to the exhibition space is a print of a drawing of the facade of a gay bar in Kyiv. The artist memorialises these buildings as important spaces in queer socialisation in this visual study prompting us to think on the role of queer spaces of safer socialisation, organising, and pleasure. The two curtains were sewn on tote bags by a volunteer and are given for donations to support ZBOKU and its mission.
Vishnia Vishnia, a.k.a. Double Cherry, is a visual artist, queer feminist, pervert creature, and researcher based in Kyiv. They mostly do drawing and illustration, but also different hand crafts such as tattooing and sculpture. At the moment, Vishnia Vishnia lives in their own private queer bubble, being engaged with maintaining a connection network among a small community. Vishnia Vishnia is a co-founder of ZBOKU.
